Four men were convicted for having participated in robberies after the riots from the beginning of July, this Tuesday August 8 at the court of Montluçon. The facts date back to the night of July 1 to 2, 2023, when France experienced a fifth night of rioting after Nahel’s death. An Intersport store in the Saint-Jacques shopping center in Montluçon (Allier) was then looted.
The four defendants have in common that they have no or very little awareness of the context of riots in France at this moment. Even less of what caused these riots, the death of Nahel. “I learned who Nahel was at the police station“, even explains one of them. They also did not see the calls for the riots which circulated on social networks that evening.
“Like seeing a bank and banknotes on the ground”
Although they did not take part in the riots themselves, they make proof “of opportunism“ faced with the situation explain their lawyers. “It’s like seeing a bank open and bills on the floor“, according to one of the defendants aged 27. This man with multiple convictions for theft would have participated in the destruction of the door of the store, which he admitted during a first hearing before denying it to the rod.
He is seen exiting the store on a bicycle with a cart hung on the back full of clothes. If he ended up there, it’s because he has “heard noises and saw smoke in the distance“. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. His cousin, also with a criminal record, is seen with a bicycle leaving the store, but he denies having stolen it. “I got scared“, assures the 23-year-old man. He is also sentenced to 18 months in prison.
A homeless man who stole clothes
Among the four men at the helm is a 31-year-old homeless man. “I hadn’t showered in 28 days, it was 35 degrees. I stole two pairs of socks, two boxers and two shorts. And a bike to get to work.“If he already has several entries in his criminal record, it is above all”his situation of great precariousness“that he pushed him to act, defends his lawyer. The court sentenced him to a 15 month prison sentence.
Finally a fourth man, aged 23, with no criminal record. He claims to have gone out that evening pour “see what was going on“. He was arrested a few meters from the looted store, with a bag of clothes. A bag that he had no intention of stealing, he assures us, but that he did not want to leave on the road “to prevent someone from running over it.“An explanation that did not convince the court, which sentenced him to a 6-month suspended prison sentence.
The prosecution had requested two-year prison sentences for the three of them arrested on the outskirts or in the store. For the young man who claims to have simply wanted to move a bag of clothes, the public prosecutor had requested a one-year probationary sentence.
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